System and method for performing secure user account purchases

ABSTRACT

A method and system of performing secure user account purchases in the context of a commercial transaction, such as over the telephone, wherein the customer communicates with a custodial authorizing entity, such as a credit card company or issuing bank wherein such entity has previous knowledge of the account number as well as custodial control of other account parameters such as interest rate, payment history, available credit limit etc. The customer supplies the custodial authorizing entity with the account identification data such as the credit card number and may select one or more of a possible plurality of predetermined payment categories for the transaction, such as which define the dollar amount for the purchase and specific, predetermined time parameters within which authorization by the custodial authorizing entity will remain in effect. The custodial authorizing entity then generates a transaction code which is communicated exclusively to the customer wherein the customer in turn communicates only the transaction code, which is different from their account number, to the merchant instead of a credit card number. The transaction code is indicative of merchant identification, account identification and a designated one of the plurality of predetermined payment categories, and is verifiable in a conventional manner by the merchant without providing the merchant with access to an established, continuing account.

CLAIM OF PRIORITY

[0001] The present application is a continuation-in-part application ofpreviously filed, now pending application having Ser. No. 09/231,745,filed on Jan. 15, 1999.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0002] 1. Field of the Invention

[0003] This invention relates to a system and method of performingsecure purchases using a pre-established user account, such as a debitaccount, a credit account, an ATM type account, a checking account,etc., collectively referred to herein for reasons of clarity as creditcard purchases due to the typical credit card type account processingtechniques usually employed whether the account is a debit, savings,checking, ATM, or credit account. The secure purchases may be made inconnection with remote and local commercial transactions, in a mannerthat is seamless and verifiable to a merchant already capable ofprocessing normal credit card transactions, whether with or without aPIN entry, but keeps the customers account information secure by notrequiring any disclosure whatsoever of their established account number.Specifically, in the system of the present invention, an account holderdoes not have to reveal their established account number to a merchantor a mechanism controlled by the merchant in order to accomplish apurchase, and does not need a specialized, contemporaneous communicativelink with a custodial authority, such as an issuing entity, at the timeof making the transaction, but also ensures to the merchant thenecessary account verifications and approvals prior to authorizingand/or completing the transaction in a manner that does not require aspecialized computer interface or setup beyond what is already in placeto process conventional credit card transactions. As a result, overallsecurity is increased by minimizing access to account numbers withouthaving to modify or deviate from existing, accepted account transactionpractices.

[0004] 2. Description of the Related Art

[0005] The utilization of credit based and debit based cards, such aspure credit cards, check cashing or ATM cards, all collectively andinterchangeably referred to for purposes of clarity as credit cards,wherein a user has a pre-established account, to conduct transactions isever increasing. This is especially the case with remote or “mail-order”transactions wherein merchants desire to be assured of a payment priorto shipping a product, as well as “in person” transactions at stores,restaurants, etc. wherein an individual does not have large amounts ofcash. Furthermore, with regard to remote transactions, recent years haveseen a substantial increase in the popularity of televised shoppingnetworks to further supplement the popularity of catalogue type sales,and the increasing use and popularity of distributed computer networkssuch as the Internet has also contributed to the dramatic increase inthe number of remote commercial transactions conducted every day.

[0006] One primary reason associated with the rapid growth of remotecommercial transactions is the ability of a merchant to reach an almostlimitless number of potential customers at a substantially insignificantcost and with little or no operating overhead since an actual store isnot required. Additionally, such sales techniques permit customers toview the products and services in a greatly expanded marketplace,representing a great number of vendors, without extensive travel andwithout foregoing the privacy and convenience of their home or otherpredetermined computer site in some cases. Simply put, a telephone orlike communication avenue is all that is needed to place the consumer incontact with the merchant and complete the transaction.

[0007] The vast increase in popularity of user account transactions, andespecially, remote commercial transactions conducted over the telephoneor internet using a credit card is further facilitated by the relativelysimple protocols and procedures necessary to conduct and complete suchtransactions. In particular, in order to complete a valid transaction, amerchant need not even physically see the customer or the credit card,but must merely accept and enter a customer's account number and anexpiration date thereof to obtain authorization. This same convenience,however, is one of the primary disadvantages and/or problems associatedwith conducting commerce in the manners set forth above. Specifically,there is a great reluctance on the part of the customer to transmittheir account information because of the proliferation of fraud, and awell recognized lack of security directed to the protection of suchaccount information. Indeed, it has been established that security andprivacy concerns are realistic due to the fact that account data iseasily readable or interceptable by unauthorized parties, and can bereadily used for all types of fraudulent remote transactions withminimal risk of being physically caught. In fact, unscrupulousindividuals have many ways of gaining access to a consumer's legitimatetransaction details and thereby obtaining the account information.Moreover, in addition to more “high-tech” methods of intercepting orobtaining the information, often the information can be simply obtainedfrom old credit card receipts or even from the unauthorized notation anduse of the information by merchants or their employees after alegitimate transaction is made. As a result, substantial risks arepresent whenever or however an account transaction is made. Furthermore,these possible threats can be rather difficult to prevent utilizingknown methods and systems unless a consumer is willing to completelyforego the use of a credit card for purchases.

[0008] In the case of computerized remote transactions, as messages,including account data or other confidential information, move acrossthe Internet, they can easily pass through numerous computers, any oneof which can be utilized to copy such confidential information or data,thereby leading to a further risk of potential fraud when conductingsuch transactions. Presently, some companies currently seek to addresssuch security and privacy concerns by the employment of encryptionprograms and techniques. To this end there is an extensive facilityassociated with both public and private encryption schemes beingdeployed in order to guard the private or secured information beingtransmitted across the internet or like world wide networks.Unfortunately, however, even with such encryption techniques, theaccount information must usually still ultimately be transmitted to athird party who did not previously have access to that information. Evensome more sophisticated systems which seek to interpose a separatecomputer or encryption entity between the consumer and the merchant soas to obtain authorization and forward it to the merchant, thatinformation must still be made available to and/or transmitted to thatthird party, thereby leaving open an avenue for fraud or theft. Further,such encryption techniques, even if minimally effective for computerizedremote transactions, are not truly useable for other conventional typesof remote transactions, or even normal in person transactions.

[0009] Based on the above, there is a need in the field of artassociated with commercial transactions for a system and method ofperforming secure purchases of goods and services which truly reducesthe risk of potential fraud and theft by eliminating outside access to aconsumer's private account information without requiring complexencryption equipment or significantly altering the ease and convenienceof current transaction techniques. Further, such a system and methodshould also be effective for use in conventional, “in person”transactions as well, thereby providing an added measure of security andminimizing the hazards associated with the passing on of accountinformation by unscrupulous merchants. Also, such a system shouldprovide limits to potential loss or liability in a manner which does notimpede the transaction.

[0010] It also bears noting that some systems have been developedwherein a simultaneous link is established between a consumer, anaccount issuing entity and a merchant so as to achieve more secureaccount verification. Such systems, however, require a substantialdeviation and/or departure from existing account verification techniquesalready used in virtually every commercial establishment. As a result,the increase costs associated with implementation can make such systemsunpractical unless it is for an Internet transaction whereinsophisticated computer processors are employed. As such, it would bevery beneficial to provide a secure system that does not requiremerchants to alter their established account verification techniques,but which could be implemented and/or offered by an account issuingentity for effective and convenient use by consumers desiring addedsecurity.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0011] The present invention is directed towards a system and method ofperforming secure purchases using an established user account, whereinpayment for goods or services purchased is efficiently accomplishedwhile eliminating the necessity of disclosure or dissemination of aconsumers specific account number or other account identification datawhich the customer or other individual may wish to maintain inconfidence and which may allow extensive amounts of transactions. Thesystem and method of the present invention incorporates the advantage ofconsummating the purchase by the customer through the pre-selection ofany one of a plurality of predetermined payment categories.Collectively, the payment categories represent a variety of methods foraccomplishing payment for a fixed transaction, multiple transactionsand/or a repeating transaction.

[0012] One embodiment of the system and method of the present inventioncomprises a customer receiving information, either as a result of asolicitation or request, including specific data necessary for thepurchase of any given product or service. This product informationgenerated by the merchant can be received by any of a plurality ofconventional means including advertisements, catalogues, computernetwork connections, direct person to person customer and merchantcontact, telephone solicitation, mail orders, etc. Once the customer hasidentified the product or services which he/she wishes to purchase,and/or in anticipation of a purchase, the customer independently anddirectly contacts and supplies to a custodial authorizing entity,requisite information concerning both the identification of a specificuser account, such as a credit or debit account, and a requested paymentcategory. Additionally, security against unauthorized use ofconfidential account data may also include information relating to themerchant's identification and/or location.

[0013] The custodial authorizing entity is preferably defined as theentity which has or has been assigned the custodial responsibility forthe financial account data of a customer's established account,including a previous knowledge of the account number and otherinformation such as credit limits, payment history, available creditamounts, account balances, and other information which will determinethe status of a given user account in terms of continuously authorizinga requested payment for a current purchase.

[0014] As part of the security system for accomplishing a commercialtransaction utilizing credit or debit payment, the custodial authorizingentity includes sufficient facilities, preferably including a processingcomputer or like applicable hardware for the generation of an exclusivetransaction code. The transaction code is to be used in substitution forthe account number normally provide in connection with a transaction,and when utilized as authorized, will issue the merchant a creditapproval, and will accomplish payment for the goods or services desiredin the normal fashion normally associated with a credit or debittransaction, without the publication or dissemination of an identifyinginformation for a specific customer's established and continuing accountto any entity that is not already aware of that information. Inparticular, the customer's established account, which remains in effectand will continue to be used in connection with all transactionsaffiliated with the custodial authorizing entity remains protected andneed not be disclosed, thus not compromising its future use.

[0015] Further, a feature of the transaction code is its ability toindicate any one of preferably a plurality of predetermined paymentcategories which may be either requested by the customer orautomatically chosen by the custodial authorizing entity based on thetype of account or the type of purchase or other commercial transactioninvolved. Each of the payment categories are reflective of a differenttype of payment desired or required to consummate the intended purchase.More specifically, the plurality of payment categories may include asingle transaction involving a specific dollar amount for a purchasewithin a specific time period, such as twenty four hours, during whichauthorization of the purchase remains valid. Alternately, a singletransaction may be involved wherein a maximum limit, pre-set range, or aspecific dollar amount is determined, purchases falling outside thoseparameters being invalid, and further wherein a fixed period of time ispreferably established for maintaining authorization of such purchase.Other alternatives would involve one or more of the categories coded todefine multiple transactions involving a maximum dollar amount forpurchases, as well as a fixed period of time for authorization of suchpurchases, and/or a repeating transaction wherein payments may beautomatically accessed by a merchant over a predetermined or unspecifiedtime interval (such as every thirty days) for a specific dollar amountor a maximum dollar amount limit. Also, limits solely as to a specificmerchant or a given time period can be effectively established for whichthe transaction code is valid.

[0016] A further feature of the present invention to be described ingreater details hereinafter, is that the transaction code is preferablyreceived directly by the customer and is transmitted to the merchant bythe customer or a person specifically authorized by the customer. Onlyminimal contact by the merchant and the custodial authorizing entity isprovided for purposes of the merchant verifying the validity of thetransaction code, said contact typically being achieved utilizingconventional processes such as those already used for the verificationof a credit card number normally offered to a merchant for the purchaseof goods or services. There is, therefore, no disclosure, publication orother dissemination of the specific account number for a given customerbeyond those entities who already know the information, and thetransaction code is transmitted exclusively to the customer by thecustodial authorizing entity who has the ability to better identifywhether the customer is properly authorized to use the account.Moreover, the transaction code, once given out by the customer, only hasa limited usefulness, thereby limiting the risk of misuse and minimizingthe potential losses to be experienced by the credit card company and/orthe account holder, but does not require merchants to alter or modifytheir existing authorization techniques.

[0017] These and other features and advantages of the present inventionwill become more clear when the drawings as well as the detaileddescription are taken into consideration.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0018] For a fuller understanding of the nature of the presentinvention, reference should be had to the following detailed descriptiontaken in connection with the accompanying drawings in which:

[0019]FIG. 1 is a schematic representation of a flow chart showingvarious steps involved in the performance of the system and method ofthe present invention for the secure credit card purchasing;

[0020]FIG. 2 is a schematic representation similar to that of FIG. 1wherein customer to merchant contact is accomplished by conventionalfacilities such as television; and

[0021]FIG. 3 is a schematic representation similar that of FIG. 2wherein customer to merchant contact is established either by phone orin person.

[0022] Like reference numerals refer to like parts throughout theseveral views of the drawings.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

[0023] As shown in the accompanying figures, the present invention isdirected towards a system and method for accomplishing secure purchasesutilizing an established user account, such as a checking, credit,debit, ATM type account, collectively referred to as a credit card typepurchases. Moreover, these purchases can be “in person”, but often mayinclude remote commercial transactions such as mail order, purchasesover the Internet, telephone solicitations, etc. Security is establishby virtue of the elimination of the need to disclose an active accountnumber and expiration date to the merchant or any other party other thanthe original credit card company, issuing bank or like financialinstitution which already has custodial responsibilities for thefinancial or account data associated with a given customer's account.

[0024] More specifically and with reference to FIG. 1 the system as wellas an attendant method is preferably instigated by the customer viewingor anticipating the viewing of a product, identifying a desired amountfor a transaction and/or receiving promotional information as at 10,either in person or by any of the electronic or more conventionaltechniques which will be described in greater detail with reference toFIGS. 2 through 3. Once the customer reviews the product or promotionalinformation and/or has what they determine to be sufficient information,such as including price, product or service identification, paymentrequirement, etc., regarding the remote commercial transaction to beconducted, the customer contacts, either by computer, telephone or inperson, a custodial authorizing entity as at 12. The custodialauthorizing entity may herein be defined as comprising that entity orinstitution which has or has been designated by the entity which hascustodial responsibility for the financial data and security of a givenaccount of a customer. As set forth above such custodial authorizingentity can be represented by the credit card company issuing a creditcard to a given customer or alternately can be represented by a bank orother financial institution serving to sponsor a credit card or debitcard to the extent of processing the debits and credit associatedtherewith. The authorizing entity's custodial responsibilities of courseincludes the previous knowledge and/or storage of the account number,such as the credit card number, serving to identify a specificcustomer's account. Once contacted, the customer then suppliesappropriate identification data to inform the custodial authorizingentity of a specific customer's account as at 14. In addition, thecustomer will supply the custodial authorizing entity with additionalrequired information needed to consummate the purchase as well as ensurethe security of the account in order to prevent its unauthorized use.Such additional information may also include the identification of themerchant or merchants involved, when such information is deemednecessary, and the selection and definition of a requested one of aplurality of predetermined payment categories to facilitate consummationof the purchase of the products or services desired. Such predeterminedplurality of payment categories will be discussed in greater detailhereinafter.

[0025] Once the appropriate information has been received from thecustomer as indicated at 16, the custodial authorizing entity verifiesthe credit card status and account identification of the customer todetermine the viability of the account in terms of dollar amount limits,payment history, available credit balance, etc. If the accessed creditcard account is not in good standing, the custodial authorizing entitywill permanently or temporarily terminate the transaction as at 18and/or communicate to the customer directly as at 18′ by any applicablemeans for purposes of informing the customer of the unacceptable statusof the accessed credit card account. If the account is in good standing,based at least in part on the requested payment category, (such asamount of payment), the custodial authorizing entity generates atransaction code as at 20. The transaction code is preferably atemporary or disposable code that is used in substitution for thespecific account number which would normally identify a customer'saccount to a merchant and would allow at least some access to chargesthereon by any entity having possession of the account number whether ornot such possession was authorized or unauthorized. More specifically,the transaction code is pre-coded to be indicative of a specificaccount, possibly a merchant or merchants identification and/or anotherdesignated payment category, preferably selected from a plurality ofpredetermined payment categories. Once generated, the transaction codeis communicated exclusively to the authorized and verified customer bythe custodial authorizing entity as at 22, wherein the system and methodof the present invention preferably restricts communication between thecustodial authorizing entity and the merchant except to conduct a normalverification as will be explained. In this regard, it is noted that thetransaction code may be audibly communicated to the user, and/or may beprinted on a single or infrequent use paper or card. Furthermore,pre-printed cards bearing transaction codes may be provided to acustomer, the contact with the custodial entity activating thetransaction code and specifying its characteristics. As a result, evenif lost or stolen, a pre-printed transaction code has no use or valueunless activated, and then only within the defined payment categoryparameters.

[0026] The verified customer thereafter and preferably within a timelimit to be determined by the customer in connection with the paymentcategory and pre-coded in association with the transaction code, willdirectly or through an authorized representative communicate thetransaction code to the merchant as at 24. The system and method of thepreferred embodiment of the present invention contemplates that only theverified customer will transmit the generated transaction code to themerchant in the case of a remote commercial transaction, therebylimiting knowledge of the transaction code to those parties having aneed to know. Of course, however, as the transaction code will generallyhave a limited value as defied by the verified customer when obtained,the verified customer may designate an agent or other entity to act asthe customer on his/her behalf, with the amount of potential liabilityto be experienced by such a transaction to be limited to the amountdefined by the verified customer when obtaining the transaction codeand/or to certain types of transactions.

[0027] At this point the purchase is consummated at least from thecustomer standpoint in that the customer has previously established theacceptable status of the account. Therefore the customer feels free todisclose the transaction code to the merchant or merchants instead ofthe actual account number as at 22, 24 and is relatively unconcerned ifthe transaction code is published or otherwise disseminated tounauthorized entities after use. In a preferred embodiment wherein amerchant identifier is pre-coded in association with the transactioncode, the pre-coding of the transaction code will prohibit anunauthorized use due at least in part to the fact that the merchant isspecifically identified and any attempt to use the transaction codeother than by the identified merchant will be prohibited. In addition,the merchant is prevented from “overcharging” or “extending” thepurchase by fixing the dollar amount to satisfy the specific cost orlimit of the purchase as well as a specific time limit or timeparameters in which the authorization for payment is valid. Suchinformation, as set forth above, is communicated by the requested andsubsequently designated payment category as set forth above. Restrictedcommunication between the merchant and the custodial authorizing entityas at 26 is permitted exclusively for purposes of verification of thetransaction code in a manner, which may preferably utilize, at least tosome extent, conventional facilities for the verification of a creditcard number by most merchants or like commercial establishments. As aresult, the merchant has appropriate verification as to the validity ofa transaction and can effectively make arrangements to be paid by theaccount provider in the normal course of business, without requiringadditional specialized facilities beyond what they already have in orderto accept these types of transactions.

[0028] If for some reason the transaction code is refused verification,the customer may be informed directly by the merchant as at 28 and/orthe transaction may be terminated as at 30 as would be the case with arefused credit card. Assuming verification of the transaction code bythe custodial authorizing entity, however, the merchant proceeds toconsummate the purchase and send the order, as at 32, in the case of aremote commercial transaction.

[0029]FIGS. 3 and 4 are representative of the versatility of the systemand method of the present invention wherein the customer 54 may receivethe aforementioned promotional information from the merchant 56 by anyappropriate means such as television solicitation as at 58, phonesolicitation as at 60 and/or personal solicitation as at 62. Once thecustomer receives the promotional information, which may include theviewing of the product itself, or in advance if a general estimate as tothe ultimate cost of an anticipated purchase(s) can be made prior toviewing promotional information, the customer contacts the custodialauthorizing entity 64 by any appropriate electronic or conventionalfacilities such as direct phone to phone contact as at 66 and 66′ ordirect computer contact as at 42′, 45′. Once the customer'sauthorization is confirmed, details of the anticipated transaction areestablished so as to determine a payment category, and the a transactioncode is issued to the customer. The customer, either directly or througha representative, can then utilize the transaction code to consummate atransaction within the defined parameters of the payment category.Moreover, the merchant 56, through a conventional, yet restrictedcommunication with the custodial authorizing entity 64 by any of aplurality of conventional or electronic methods using computer tocomputer linking as at 44′, 45′ or by telephone transmission as at 56′,66′, can obtain a verification and subsequent payment utilizing thetransaction code only.

[0030] As emphasized above, an important feature of the presentinvention is the ability of the customer to request a desired or arequired payment category and the ability of the custodial authorizingentity 64 and/or a processing computer 45 of the custodial authorizingentity to issue a transaction code in accordance with the paymentcategory. The payment categories, may be collectively defined as avariety of different types of transactions. Such transactions mayinclude a single transaction for a specific amount of a purchase to beconsummated. Alternatively, the payment category may include a singletransaction defined by a single purchase having a maximum limit or rangelimit amount, wherein the specific or precise cost of the purchase hasnot been determined for a variety of reasons, and as such, the customerdesires to set a maximum amount or a range for which the singletransaction may be made. Accordingly, with such a payment category, theexact amount may not be known in advance, but the customer is assured ofnot paying over the specifically designated maximum limit. In addition,the transactions are preferably, but not necessarily, authorized to beconducted only over a fixed period of time, such as within twenty fourhours, thereby ensuring that an outstanding transaction code does notremain valid if not used as generally intended. This limited time periodcan, of course be varied or omitted depending upon the wishes of thecustomer and/or the policies of the custodial authorizing entity. Also,these or any other payment category transactions may include a specificmerchant identification to further restrict use of the transaction code.

[0031] The payment category may also include a multi-transactionauthorization wherein more than one purchase may be made from one or aplurality of different merchants, each of which may or may not beidentified by the customer and pre-coded in association with thetransaction code, and wherein a total cost of the plurality of purchasesmay not exceed a maximum limit amount. This transaction can also belimited to having to take place within a predetermined, designated fixedlife span, such as but not limited to twenty four hours. Accordingly, insome instances wherein a customer, or an agent of the customer, such asa child, guardian, or care giver, must make a number of transactions orpurchases which are authorized by the customer, the customer maydesignate a maximum amount which can be spent utilizing a particulartransaction code within a predetermined period of time, and/or candesignate that only one merchant, whether designated or not, can use thetransaction code, and/or may designate that a plurality of transactionscan be made so long as each is below a predetermined amount or to apredetermined merchant.

[0032] As yet another alternative, the payment category may include arepeating transaction for a specific amount to be paid in each of afixed number of intervals. For example, the customer may which to join agym or receive services or products over a fixed number of paymentintervals, such as every thirty days. Accordingly, the merchant will beauthorized to charge the account designated by the correspondingtransaction code a fixed monthly payment. Similarly, a repeatingtransaction for a stated minimum interval such as every thirty days maybe authorized for a specific amount for an unspecified number ofintervals wherein the merchant will be authorized to continuously obtainpayment on a “monthly” basis until the customer decides to cancel suchauthorization.

[0033] Since many modifications, variations and changes in detail can bemade to the described preferred embodiment of the invention, it isintended that all matters in the foregoing description and shown in theaccompanying drawings be interpreted as illustrative and not in alimiting sense. Thus, the scope of the invention should be determined bythe appended claims and their legal equivalents.

[0034] Now that the invention has been described,

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of performing secure purchases, saidmethod comprising: a) a customer communicating with a custodialauthorizing entity having custodial responsibility of account parametersof said customer's pre-established account; b) said customer supplyingthe custodial authorizing entity with at least account identificationdata; c) said customer designating a payment category; d) generating atransaction code that is different from said account identification dataand which is associated with said designated payment category; e)communicating said transaction code to said customer; f) terminatingcommunication with said custodial authority; g) said customercommunicating said transaction code to a merchant in connection with apurchase having defined purchase parameters; h) said merchantcommunicating said transaction code to a verifying authority; i) saidverifying authority utilizing said transaction code to verify that saiddefined purchase parameters are within said designated payment category;and j) said verifying authority communicating a purchase authorizationto said merchant if said defined purchase parameters are within saiddesignated payment category associated with said transaction code; andk) completing the purchase.
 2. A method as recited in claim 1 furthercomprising defining said payment category as a specific maximum dollaramount, said verifying authority communicating a purchase denial if saidpurchase parameters of said purchase include a purchase dollar amount inexcess of said maximum dollar amount.
 3. A method as recited in claim 1further comprising defining said payment category as a specific dollaramount, said verifying authority communicating a purchase denial if saidpurchase parameters of said purchase include a purchase dollar amountdifferent from said specific dollar amount by more than a predeterminedmaximum variance.
 4. A method as recited in claim 1 further comprisingcommunicating information associated with offered subject matter to thecustomer by the merchant, pre-determining the purchase parameters of thepurchase, and corresponding said designated payment category to saidpurchase parameters.
 5. A method as recited in claim 1 furthercomprising the custodial authorizing entity generating a transactioncode which reflects at least one of said designated payment categoriesfrom a plurality of different types of said payment categories.
 6. Amethod as recited in claim 5 further comprising defining at least one ofsaid plurality of different types of payment categories to includeamount parameters for a cost of a purchase.
 7. A method as recited inclaim 5 further comprising defining at least one of said plurality ofdifferent types of payment categories to include time parameters duringwhich the purchase can be completed.
 8. A method as recited in claim 5further comprising defining at least one of the plurality of differenttypes of payment categories to include authorization for a singletransaction at a fixed amount for purchase within a predetermined periodof time.
 9. A method as recited in claim 5 further comprising definingat least one of the plurality of different types of payment categoriesto include authorization for a single transaction at a maximum amountfor purchase within a predetermined period of time.
 10. A method asrecited in claim 5 further comprising defining at least one of theplurality of different types of payment categories to includeauthorization for a predetermined maximum number of transactions up to amaximum total purchase amount.
 11. A method as recited in claim 5further comprising defining at least one of the plurality of differenttypes of payment categories to include authorization for a predeterminedmaximum number of transactions up to a maximum total purchase amountduring a predetermined time period.
 12. A method as recited in claim 5further comprising defining at least one of the plurality of differenttypes of payment categories to include authorization for a repeatingtransaction at a fixed amount.
 13. A method as recited in claim 5further comprising defining at least one of the plurality of differenttypes of payment categories to include authorization for a repeatingtransaction at a fixed amount payable at each of a fixed number of timeintervals.
 14. A method as recited in claim 5 further comprisingdefining the plurality of payment categories selectable by said customerto include at least: a) authorization for a single transaction at afixed amount for a purchase within a predetermined period of time, b)authorization for a single transaction at a maximum amount for apurchase within a predetermined period of time, c) authorization formultiple transactions at a maximum total amount for purchases within apredetermined time period, and d) authorization for a repeatingtransaction at a fixed amount.
 15. A method as recited in claim 1further comprising defining said payment category to include a limitedtime interval during which said transaction code is valid.
 16. A methodas recited in claim 1 further comprising generating a transaction codewhich further reflects an identification of the merchant.
 17. A methodas recited in claim 1 wherein said merchant communicates saidtransaction code to a verifying authority which normally accepts andverifies credit card account information in connection with purchases.18. A secure purchase verification system comprising: a) a custodialauthorizing entity structured to issue a user account to a consumer; b)said custodial authorizing entity structured to bill said consumer forpurchases consummated in connection with said user account; c) saidcustodial authorizing entity responsive to a consumer transactionrequest and structured to generate a transaction code internallyassociated with said user account and different from said user account;d) said transaction code including a payment category designated by saidconsumer associated therewith and structured to be presented to amerchant by said consumer in connection with a purchase having definedpurchase parameters; e) a verifying authority structured to receive andauthorize credit card transactions from said merchant; f) saidtransaction code structured to be communicated to said verifyingauthority by said merchant, in connection with said purchase having saidpurchase parameters, as a credit card account number utilizing a creditcard authorization system; g) said verifying authority structured toverify that said purchase parameters of said purchase correspond saidpayment category associated with said transaction code withoutidentifying said user account, and to accordingly communicate anauthorization or rejection to said merchant.
 19. A secure purchaseverification system as recited in claim 18 wherein said payment categoryof said transaction code includes a defined maximum purchase amount. 20.A secure purchase verification system as recited in claim 18 whereinsaid payment category of said transaction code includes a specificpurchase amount.
 21. A secure purchase verification system as recited inclaim 18 wherein said payment category of said transaction code includesa specific purchase amount range.
 22. A secure purchase verificationsystem as recited in claim 18 wherein said payment category of saidtransaction code includes a defined time period for commencement of saidpurchase.
 23. A secure purchase verification system as recited in claim18 wherein said payment category of said transaction code includes adefined plurality of purchases.
 24. A secure purchase verificationsystem as recited in claim 23 wherein said payment category of saidtransaction code includes a defined maximum purchase amount for saidplurality of purchases.
 25. A secure purchase verification system asrecited in claim 18 wherein said payment category of said transactioncode includes a defined plurality of recurring purchases.
 26. A securepurchase verification system as recited in claim 25 wherein each of saiddefined plurality of purchases include a define purchase amountassociated therewith.